Madagascar Meanders and Wildlife.
After searching the internet for a trip to Madagascar, I came across HT Agency and a 17 day tour especially for seniors. Dealing with Toky was easy and he answered queries quickly. Payment is by bank transfer but they are looking into payment by credit cards soon. The itinerary was a good mix of wildlife, geological features, Malagasy culture and relaxation. The hotels are excellent and the lodges comfortable. Due to no other people booking on the group tour, it became a private one. Some small adjustments were made, like no lunches provided but upgrades on three hotels, so that we didn't have to pay extra. Toky was to be our guide but his boss assigned him to another couple. Our guide was Fitia, who was young, energetic and greeted us every day with a broad smile. He was university trained in tourism operations and spoke perfect English. It was obvious after the first hike in the Isalo National Park, that I would not be able to undertake the three to four hour treks in the other National Parks in the heat and steep terrain. You would have to be very fit, bushwalking seniors to undertake some of the hikes. Alternative arrangements were made and one of those was to Lemur Island, a refuge where you could get up close to these wonderful furry creatures. The roads in Madagascar are atrocious, so be prepared for long drives over pot-holed, rough dirt and barely sealed roads. A four-wheel drive is essential to navigate them. Along the way you will be able to view the lives and culture of the Malagasy people. The change in agriculture, housing construction and the people walking along the roads to and from the markets. We were amazed to see such wide expanses of eucalypt forests. The trees are used for making essences and charcoal for cooking fires and heating and sold along the road in large bags. There is a lot of begging and we didn't see any tourists walking in the towns. Visiting the Avenue of Boababs is a must and we had one of our best seafood meals in Morodova at the Blue Cafe, sitting on the deck overlooking the Mozamibque Channel. At the end the night walk in the Kirindy Forest Reserve, we saw a Fossa, which was special, as they are very shy. The flight back to Tanna was a reprieve from the road travel. We then headed east towards Antasibe and visited the Peyrieras Private Reserve. Here you can get up close and handle chamelons, lizards, frogs and boas, the guide giving you information and even feeding a chameleon to show how quickly it can catch food. The highlight of our trip would have been the stay at the Palmarium Beach Lodge, which you can only get to by boat along the Pangalane Channel. There is a guided walk around the lodge to see lemurs, orchids, tortoises and chameleons. The lemurs will come and sit on your shoulders to eat bits of banana and their paws are like soft pads. A night trip takes you to a refuge for the Aye-Aye lemur, the most curiously weird creature you will ever see. Having seen them on a David Attenborough programme, it has been on my wish list to see them. You could get up quite close to take photos and watch them eating coconuts. Their tails were amazingly long and fluffy. Travelled along the Pangalane Chanel, viewing fishing villages to Tamatave. We were supposed to stay there but our guide suggested we travel for three hours to reach Mahambo, so that we didn't have an early drive to next morning to catch the ferry to Ile St Marie. Stayed in a unique two story villa, right on the beach. Enjoyed the relaxing time on Ile St Marie at the Libertalia and the tour of Ile aux Nattes before our flight back to Tanna. Met there by Fitia again, who had driven two days to be with us on our second last day, such was the rapport we had with him. Being a teacher, I had taken school items, which Fitia would give to a school he supports in Tulear. Toky and I also exchanged gifts, which makes it a truly personal company to deal with. We had a different guide fort he tour to the UNESCO site of the King's Palace of the Merina Kingdom, before leaving Madagascar that afternoon. Certainly visit Madagascar as it is a very different place with exotic animals and diverse in scenery.
larry g
2023-10-17
Verified
SOUTHERN MADAGASCAR FROM TULEAR UP TO ANTANANARIVO.
HT AGENCY made a good trip into a great one due to Toky, our guide and driver as well as providing much aid in the creation of our itinerary. guides can make or break an adventure such as this one to Madagascar. having been to 121 countries, i can honestly say Toky is one of the best. he is knowledgeable, personable, and so accommodating. trust him to handle all of the logistics. we spent two plus weeks covering the southern part of madagascar up the r 7 route. it was a memorable trip. can't thank you enough Toky.
Paul_White_33
2023-09-12
Verified
An amazing adventure in Madagascar enhanced with an excellent tour guide - Njiva
I had an outstanding tour of Madagascar, thanks to your wonderful tour guide, Njiva. Njiva is a fountain of knowledge on everything in Madagascar; history, culture, local traditions, wildlife, flora and fauna. His extensive knowledge was amazing, every animal, bird and plant we observed was immediately explained by Njiva and I learned a lot. His English language is fluent like a native English speaker and he puts this skill to great use with eloquent story telling which was very engaging. In addition to being an expert tour guide, Njiva is also a kind and caring person who supported me with every single request from the moment I arrived in Tana airport, until my departure home. Njiva made me feel safe and comfortable throughout my 14 days in Madagascar. Furthermore, Njiva’s customer service is exemplary. I have travelled all over the world to USA, Europe, Asia etc and I can honestly say that Njiva’s customer service is the best I have experienced. Njiva catered to all my requests professionally and promptly. Njiva helped me with all travel logistics, flights, hotels, food and even down to small requests such as helping me locate a pin to enable me to change the SIM card in my mobile phone. Therefore, the customer service I received from Njiva was world class and I recommend him highly. Njiva’s first class customer support combined with the amazing adventures in Madagascar made this a once in a lifetime holiday and sincerely thank Njiva for his outstanding service, expert knowledge and kindness. Also, I recommend Willy as the driver who was safe and conscientious. The Madagscar roads are precarious, but I always felt safe with Willy’s careful driving. The only suggestion for improvement is to consider the duration of driving when touring Madagascar. Within a 14 day tour, there were 8 days of 10 hours driving which was too much. I would have spent over 50% of my holiday on long, arduous car journeys which tainted the amazing experiences in had in Madagascar. This was outside Njiva’s control because he did not design the tour, which was created by HT Tour Agency. However, Njiva’s excellent customer service helped me adapt the last few days of my itinerary to remove a visit to a national park and eliminate 3 days driving, which enabled me to relax in Morondava before I fly home. This increased my holiday costs because I had to pay for the hotel in Morondava myself which was disappointing, but I am very grateful for Njiva’s support and flexibility to help me adapt the final days of my itinerary. In summary, I had an amazing adventure in Madagascar thanks to Njiva’s expert knowledge, first class customer service and his caring approach to support his clients. Njiva is a ‘gentleman and a scholar’ and I recommend him to other customers as the best tour guide in Madagascar! Misaotra!
Marcia B
2023-09-12
Verified
Great trip with great agency and great guide
We had a great trip through Madagascar in July-August 2023, thanks to HT Agency. The trip was very well planned and executed, with the agency choosing the best available accommodation at each location - and best available and suitable car for the entire voyage, particularly important given road conditions. Toky was a fantastic guide throughout the trip as he provided excellent insights and was very attentive, flexible, helpful and accommodating to our particular interests and needs. We strongly recommend using the services of the HT agency and Toky's travel planning and guiding skills. M & V
Iris E
2023-08-16
Verified
Madagascar...WOW!! Loved every moment of this trip!
I booked my 7days-6nights Western Madagascar trip through HT Agency Tours, and the itinerary was well-constructed, organized, and well-executed. A couple of months before my trip, I contacted the company & promptly received a response from Garcihel, who helped me book my trip, taking care of the lodging & logistics. Because I couldn’t book the domestic flights using my US credit card, he also helped booked the flights for me. All our correspondences went very smoothly. When I finally arrived, I was met at Antananarivo airport by Yves, who was my private guide for my entire Western Madagascar trip. Upon arrival, he gave me a briefing about the logistics of the tour, plans for the following days, then handed me the printed booklet of my complete itinerary, a sim card to use for my week-long stay, and a big bottle of water. As we drove from the airport to my hotel, I was already learning so much about Madagascar, esp. about the Malagasy people. Yves was already answering all my questions right from the start. He is such an amazing guide… personable, friendly, and knowledgeable! Due to limited domestic flights, I spent an extra night in Tana to wait for the next flight out to Morondava, which is where the real fun & adventure began. Just after Morondava town, the paved roads disappeared, and it was nothing but rough, bumpy dirt roads. We drove 1.5h to Kirindy Forest for my night walk to see fossa & lemurs. I was lucky enough to see a fossa as soon as I arrived there. During my night walk, I saw 3 nocturnal lemurs: fork-crowned lemur, grey mouse lemur, & red-tailed sportive lemur. Next morning, I was back in Kirindy Forest for another nature walk to see 2 more types of lemur: the common brown lemur & Verreaux white sifakas, jumping from tree to tree. From Kirindy, we were back on the road for the rough 8h journey to Bekopaka. The drive is 7hrs with 2 river crossings by ferry, plus a 1h lunch stop at Belo Tsiribihina. After lunch, we joined the convoy of vehicles on the drive between Belo Tsiribihina & Bekopaka. The drive is rugged, dusty, & bumpy. We all came out at the end full of dust all over our faces & clothes, but for me, the reward & the experience were absolutely worth it! The reward after the rough drive is Tsingy de Bemaraha, known for its limestone rocks & pinnacles. To see it, we had to drive another 1h on even rougher terrain, then I needed to put in some work hiking & climbing. The hike started off as more of a nature walk as we spotted lemurs on the way. And I must be lucky, as my guides said, because I saw one of the rarest sights, a fossa, in Tsingy de Bemaraha. Even my local guide, Laurent, has only seen a fossa in Tsingy twice since 1998. After that, it got even better as we climbed up the rocks & emerged at the top surrounded by limestone rock formations. After Tsingy & Bekopaka, we drove back 10hrs on the same rough roads to watch the sunset at Baobab Avenue, the best place to see many baobab trees. What a wonderful way to end my Western Madagascar adventure! Lots of culture, lemurs, fossas, zebus, baobab trees, hiking, rock climbing, adventure, great guides... such an amazing trip!
dombri
2023-07-03
Verified
Great Trip - Amazing Adventure
Would definitely recommend HT Agencies if you are considering a Madagascar tour. Ya Just returned from the 12 day Madagascar Discovery tour June 2023. I thought the itinerary was really well constructed- a good mix of adventure, activities, sightseeing and of course wildlife . I never thought I’d get to so many lemurs, chameleons etc in the wild. Even the long drives were interesting, seeing how the Malagasy people live and work in the villages and in the country Toky and his guides were professional and helpful at all times. Toky was always prompt at responding to my emails when I was planning the trip. It was all the little things that made the tour really special , like a surprise cake on my birthday and lovely sunset drinks and snacks in the spectacular Isalo National Park. The car was comfortable, even on those rough Madagascar roads. Am a seasoned traveller and have done many tours around the world, and these guys are up there with the best. Left the tour feeling like I’d made some lifelong friends with Toky and Nambi.
Irena W
2023-06-29
Verified
Madagaskar Cudowna Wyspa
Z całego serca polecam wyjazd na Madagaskar. Wspaniała wyspa i cudowny przewodnik Toky. Moc przeżyć i wrażeń. Byłam dwa razy i na pewno tam jeszcze raz wrócę. Toki jako pilot wycieczki bardzo serdeczny, kompetentny z dużą wiedzą i serdecznym usposobieniem dla gości. Tworzący rodzinną atmosferę i pragnący przekazać wszystko co jest możliwe. Bardzo troskliwy o każdego członka grupy. Serdecznie polecam. Naprawdę warto. N
JGTravel1987
2023-06-25
Verified
Did not deliver according to the plan they promised
Overall a disappointment.. The cars they use are totally inadequate for the roads in Madagascar. The plan presented showed drive times of 7 or 8 hours a day, the longest was 9 hours. But due to the vehicle they provided the days usually were 12 hours in the car, starting at 6:30 am and arriving after dark on most days. they use only Ford cars, which are made for city roads, and not Madagascar roads. You need a company that drives newer Toyota Land Cruisers. We could not enjoy the sights or stop because we were always rushed due to the extremely slow driving because the car could not handle the roads. So we missed out many of the sights we wanted to see. I had asked to be taken to crystal and mineral mines. Instead we were taken to a shop that sells minerals, at the most rip off prices charging prices that were 5 to 8 times higher than the prices for better stones in Antananarivo at the craft market or even at shops. The driver also took us to a money changer who he said was giving the best rate. He changed US$1 for 4,000. When we got to the city at the end of the trip, the Radisson hotel changed US$1 for 4,503. So he took us to a money changer that charged 12% more, such a rip off. My experience with HT Tours Agency in Madagascar and Tokiarno who sold me the package, was a big disappointment. I did not get to see the mineral mines that was a big part of what I was looking forward to, did not get to stop and many of the sights we drove past, but was promised we would pass that way again and have time to stop, which was not true, and at the end of the trip to find out how they took me to get ripped off for stones and jewelry and money exchange just made the whole experience very sad. If you go with this company, beware that you cannot trust them for any advice because they take you to the worst deals and the plan they sell is not what you are going to get in time frames of how long you are in the car or what else you will get to do. I sent Tokiarno this before I posted and all he could say was "I apologize if the trip was a disappointement " Wrong answer!
Jordan L
2023-06-23
Verified
Everything went perfectly
A travel agent friend of mine found this agency for me and my wife for a private tour. The itinerary and lodgings were all great. Madagascar is very easy for things to not go as planned sometimes but that never happened once. Mainly on account of the drivers and guide the agency provided being so good. And the agency had great ideas to fill out the itinerary when it was being planned. Some of those ideas were the highlights of the tour. I'd definitely recommend them and will be in touch with them again should we revisit in the future.
Ivana T
2023-02-16
Verified
THE BEST TOUR GUIDE!
Highly recommended agency! I travel all around the world and considering how rough our tour was; our guide made it the best possible! He was very attentive, respectful, knowledgeable and sweet That of course made a huge difference! We picked authentic Madagascar tour which was super adventurous, but if you are looking for comfort it’s not for you.
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Egypt is a bridge between North East Africa and the Middle East and its history dates back to the time of the pharaohs. Thousand-year-old monuments line the banks of the fertile Nile Valley, including the Sphinx and the colossal pyramids of Giza.
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